Environmental Testing and Consulting

Serving Metro East, Southern Illinois & St. Louis, MO

Quality Testing and Engineering, Inc. provides environmental consulting services to our clients in the Metro East, Southern Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri areas. Our team has the experience and qualifications to provide our clients with a thorough environmental assessment and a plan to deal with liabilities that may arise.

Projects of all types and sizes can have environmental concerns. If not properly evaluated and addressed, these concerns can become complicated regulatory issues and result in costly project delays. Our experienced firm of highly qualified and certified professionals will test your site and identify potential environmental concerns and liabilities.

Once we have completed our environmental testing, we guide our clients through the regulatory process. Regulations at the state, federal, and local level can be extremely difficult to navigate. Our team has extensive experience across jurisdictions and the knowledge necessary to help you avoid regulatory entanglements and costly delays.

Environmental Consulting Services

Let our highly qualified team assist you with these services:

Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs)

Phase II Environmental ESAs

Subsurface Contaminant Exploration

Site Characterization

NEPA Surveys and Section 106 Consulting

Design and Implementation of Corrective Action Plans

Aquifer Testing

Groundwater Monitoring and Modeling

Well Design

Underground Storage Tank (UST) Compliance

UST Removal

Regulatory Compliance

Typically, the initial phase of a project would involve an Environmental Site Assessment or ESA. This assessment checks your site for potential environmental problems. If a problem is identified, a Phase II ESA is performed to explore for the presence of subsurface contaminants. Additional phases of work would include a subsurface contaminant exploration (more detailed than Phase II ESA) and a site characterization. The site characterization will determine the lateral and vertical extent of impact and the site-specific soil and groundwater properties. These phases of work will can include the following tasks:

Soil Sampling

Groundwater Sampling and Monitoring

Geophysical Surveys

Analytical Testing

Waste Characterization

Groundwater Modeling

Soil Gas Sampling

Once site characterization is complete, QTE will work with the development plan to minimize cleanup work. For example, if an asphalt parking lot covers an area of contamination, the need for cleanup in that area is reduced.

If remediation of soil or groundwater is necessary, QTE will evaluate and propose the most cost-effective technology. Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) are then developed based on extensive experience and direct communication with regulatory agency staff (as applicable). QTE personnel have prepared CAPs utilizing various remedial methods including:

Excavation and Disposal

Air Sparging Systems

Soil Vapor Extraction Systems

Bioventing

Groundwater Recovery Systems

Bioremediation of both Soils and Groundwater

Bioaugmentation of both Soils and Groundwater

Natural Attenuation Monitoring

Free-Phase Product Recovery Systems

Metals Stabilization

Additional Consulting Services

Archaeological Surveys

Site development work can often require archaeological surveys to determine if the proposed development might impact cultural resources. Southern Illinois is rich with Native American artifacts and archeological sites that are protected by state and federal regulations. Damage to historical resources cannot be undone and can be costly. QTE will assist our clients in complying with all applicable federal and state historic preservation regulations. Archaeological services offered by QTE include:

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act protects wetlands from unpermitted dredge and fill activities. QTE can assist our clients with wetlands delineations to determine if jurisdictional wetlands are present within a proposed development site. If jurisdictional wetlands are identified, QTE will assist with any required permitting and wetlands mitigation planning.

Environmental, archeological, and wetlands issues involve numerous agencies at the federal, state, and local level. Navigating through the regulations, agencies, and jurisdictions can be treacherous. Our firm has the knowledge, experience, and credentials to help you through the process of compliance.

To limit liabilities and avoid costly delays and regulatory penalties, contact us for more information.

Asbestos Surveys

The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) regulations, as well as certain State and local laws and ordinances, require the completion of asbestos surveys prior to the demolition or renovation of any commercial or public building. QTE is licensed to perform asbestos surveys in order to determine the presence of asbestos in suspect building materials and provide recommendations for asbestos remediation and disposal.

Residential Radon Testing

Long-term exposure to elevated concentrations of radon gas can cause lung cancer. QTE has performed hundreds of residential radon tests in the Metro East Illinois area for real estate transactions and concerned homeowners. QTE can assist our clients with radon testing to determine the indoor radon concentrations and evaluate the need for a radon mitigation system, or to determine if an existing radon mitigation system is working effectively. QTE does not perform radon mitigation work but can provide assistance to clients with mitigation contractors.

Septic System Evaluations

Local health departments are responsible for carrying out the Illinois State Code for Private Septic Systems. Septic system permits typically require soil information in order to determine what kind of septic system will work best with a particular type of soil conditions. Soil properties can vary from lot to lot. Certain soils are slowly permeable and require a larger filter bed area, while other soils may have a high seasonal water table that could periodically interfere with the common filter bed area. QTE has experienced personnel that can evaluate the on-site soil conditions in order to assist with the septic system design, location, and functionality.

QTE can help you clean up contaminants and bring you into compliance as quickly and cost-effectively as possible